Birth aboard aircraft and ships

Before 1961, a number of states expressly provided, in their laws, that births and deaths aboard an aircraft registered to that state are considered to have occurred on national territory, and thus the nationality laws of that territory apply. One such was § 32(5) of the British Nationality Act 1948.

Under the 1944 Convention on International Civil Aviation, articles 17–21, all aircraft have the nationality of the state in which they are registered, and may not have multiple nationalities. The law of the aircraft's nationality is applicable on the aircraft. However, nationality laws of any country already apply everywhere, since it is for each country to determine who are its nationals. So this convention has no effect on nationality laws. The convention does not say that a birth on a country's aircraft is to be treated as a birth in that country for the purposes of nationality.

Under the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, for the purposes of determining the obligations under the convention, a birth on a ship or aircraft in international waters or airspace shall be treated as a birth in the country of the ship or aircraft's registration. However, the convention applies only to births where the child would otherwise be stateless. Since in most cases a child would be covered by one or more countries' jus sanguini at birth (getting the same citizenship as its parents), this convention rarely comes into play. In addition, there are still very few member states that are party to the 1961 convention.

Children born in Canadian airspace are automatically extended Canadian citizenship, but birth in or over international waters is assessed on a case-by-case basis. Various factors are assessed in determining citizenship at birth, parentage being the most important factor. But being born in a Canadian-registered vehicle would establish a connection with Canada which would probably be taken into account, if application was made to have the person declared a Canadian citizen.{{cite web |url=http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/air-born-will-baby-delivered-mid-flight-get-canadian-citizenship-1.2368565 |title=Air-born: Will baby delivered mid-flight get Canadian citizenship? |author=Josh Elliot |date=May 11, 2015 |work=CTV News |access-date=March 7, 2017}}

{{Main|Birthright citizenship in the United States of America|United States nationality law}}

U.S. law holds that natural persons born on foreign ships docked at U.S. ports or born within the limit of U.S. territorial waters are U.S. citizens. An important exception to this rule is children born to people who (in line with the 14th Amendment) are not "subject to the jurisdiction" of the United States, e.g. foreign diplomats accredited with the United States Department of State or invading foreign enemy forces.{{cite book |title=Multistate and Multinational Estate Planning |edition=Third |author=Jeffrey A. Schoenblum |pages=9–56 |date=2006 |publisher=CCH |isbn=0-8080-8950-1}} Despite a common misconception to the contrary, birth on board a U.S.-flagged ship, airliner, or military vessel outside of the {{convert|12|NM|sing=on}} limit is not considered to be a birth on U.S. territory, and the principle of jus soli thus does not apply.{{Cite web |title=8 FAM 301.1 ACQUISITION BY BIRTH IN THE UNITED STATES |url=https://fam.state.gov/FAM/08FAM/08FAM030101.html#M301_1_3 |access-date=2022-02-23 |website=fam.state.gov}}

In addition to the question of a child's citizenship, there is also a question of how to report "Place of Birth" for children born in transit. US State Department guidance instructs that a child born in international waters should have their place of birth listed as "AT SEA", while those born in the territorial waters of any country would list the name of that country.{{cite web |url = https://fam.state.gov/FAM/08FAM/08FAM040304.html#M403_4_4_B |title=U.S. Department of State Foreign Affairs Manual - 8 FAM 403.4 (U) Place of Birth |publisher=United States}} A child born in flight in a region where no country claims sovereignty would list their place of birth as "IN THE AIR".

• List of people born at sea

• {{cite book|chapter=Birth on board aircraft|title=Discriminatory Refusal of Carriage in North America|author=Barbara Reukema|pages=117–124|date=1982|publisher=Kluwer Law and Taxation Publishers|isbn=90-6544-049-6}}
• {{cite journal|title=Statelessness as a Consequence of the Conflict of Nationality Laws|author=William Samore|journal=The American Journal of International Law|volume=45|issue=3|date=July 1951|pages=476–494|doi=10.2307/2194545|publisher=The American Journal of International Law, Vol. 45, No. 3|jstor=2194545|s2cid=147312560 }}
• {{cite book|title=Law Among Nations: An Introduction to Public International Law|author=Gerhard Von Glahn|chapter=The Law and the Individual|pages=[https://archive.org/details/lawamongnationsi0003vong/page/202 202]|date=1976|publisher=Macmillan|isbn=0-02-423150-9|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/lawamongnationsi0003vong/page/202}}
• {{cite book|title=International Law Reports|author=Lauterpacht|chapter=re Delgado de Román|date=June 1986|pages=371–372|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=0-949009-37-7}} — a 1956 case in Argentina exemplifying how both Spanish and Argentinian laws could apply to a birth aboard ship. The decision in the case cites {{cite encyclopedia|article=Birth on Board Ship|encyclopedia=Spanish Encyclopedia|volume=23|pages=328}}.
• {{cite book|title=The British Year Book of International Law|author=British Institute of International Affairs|pages=306|chapter=Nationality in Public International Law|date=1965|publisher=Hodder and Stoughton|volume=39}}

{{Nationality laws}}

Category:Law of the sea

Category:Aviation law

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Category:Statelessness